Summary Of New Presidential Border Security And Immigration Memorandum
On April 29, 2019, President Trump issued a memorandum to the
Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security titled,
“Additional Measures to Enhance Border Security and Restore
Integrity to Our Immigration System.” This is a follow-up
measure to the president’s Proclamation 9844 of February 15,
2019 that declared a national emergency to address the security and
humanitarian crisis at the U.S.’s southern border. The memo
authorizes that further steps be proposed to enhance the integrity
and the efficiency of the existing asylum system.
Specifically, it tasks the Attorney General and the Secretary of
Homeland Security to propose new regulations that 1). ensure that
aliens who receive positive fear determinations are placed in
proceedings conducted the applicable statutes for asylum
applications or, if not eligible for asylum, are placed in
proceedings conducted under the appropriate statutes for
withholding of removal applications; 2). ensure that, absent
exceptional circumstances, all applications for asylum that are
adjudicated in immigration final administrative adjudication within
180 days of filing (not including administrative appeal); 3). that
set a fee for an asylum application not to exceed the costs of
adjudicating the applications; and 4). that bar aliens who have
attempted to enter, or have entered the U.S. unlawfully from
receiving employment authorization before an applicable application
for relief or protection from removal has been granted, and that
ensure immediate revocation of employment authorization for those
aliens who are denied asylum or become subject to a final order of
removal.
Finally, the memorandum tasks the Secretary of Homeland Security
with reprioritizing the assignment of immigration officers and any
other DHS employees that the Secretary deems necessary in order to
improve the integrity of credible and reasonable fear claim
adjudications, to bolster immigration law enforcement, and to
ensure that aliens who have final orders of removal comply with the
law.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.